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$350.00 is a great adoption fee and that's what I list my rescues for but I have seen many rescues of popular sorts list dogs upwards of $500 and that is too expensive in my opinion because my belief is that a rescue should be more affordable that what someone can get the same/similar from a breeder on Gumtree for. I understand the notion that if people will pay it why not, I guess, my personal goal is just different to that. If someone finds $350.00 too much then I'd probably say that I was sorry that I wasn't able to assist them at this time and not enter into a conversation about it because they're not going to care if you break it down for them. If a person thinks $350.00 is too much then their value of a dog in general needs to be questioned.

Rodney Habib would be keen to hear from you, he and Dr. Karen Becker research longevity in dogs and love hearing from owners of very old dogs. https://www.planetpaws.ca/

Hi, there are different modalities that may assist such as Taping to offer pain relief and support, laser, acupuncture, gentle soft tissue work etc.

I wouldn't recommend a Great Dane if you want long-lived, although not many giants are. My last oldie passed at 13, however, she was smaller at 29". It's often said that it unlikely they get into the double digits or if they do, it's not pretty i.e. mobility and health issues - generally, the bigger they are, the harder they fall and there has been an upward trend in taller Great Danes. It wasn't all that long ago that the average male in the ring was 34" and now that's more like 37"+. We're seeing the breed become more and more emotionally sensitive which is also leading to an increase in fear-based aggression - certainly a trait you do not want to see in a giant dog. Good luck with your search. I'd recommend you head out to some dog shows and meet the dogs and their breeders

Given your dog has black skin indicating a chronic condition I wouldn't be taking any further advice from your Vet. Ask for a referral to a Dermatologist and get on a correct food elimination trial with them and then onto intradermal skin testing to actually ascertain your dogs issues and get onto a desensitising injection program where appropriate. With all due respect to well-meaning people, I wouldn't be taking their advice either, just get to a Dermatologist whose education & experience is what you need. Whilst Hills Science diets ingredients are broken up so much they won't cause a reaction, the quality of the food itself so so incredibly poor that you're potentially affecting your dog's future health 5-10 years down the track. Rather than use a band-aid, get pooch to a Dermatologist and work at the actual issue. You could also look into food intolerance testing at http://www.nutriscan.org/ In terms of Novel proteins, maybe Croc, Goat, Horse, sometimes it takes some creativity when you have a mature dog.

Jules, you didn't need to delete your comment. You're more than welcome to disagree with something. Although I didn't say 'you' irk me, I said your comment irked me. Why not have a polite debate about what we both feel, isn't that how we expand our knowledge if both are willing?

Dave, Species appropriate and very little evidence of negative effects aren't the same. We can feed dogs lot's of things that we 'believe' have very little negative effect but that doesn't mean it is 'species appropriate for them' especially in larger quantities i.e. the top 5 ingredients of a kibble. Species appropriate means what that species is meant to eat....kibble isn't it to start with but that's another topic. "A lot worse" is a comment that doesn't sit well with me because it infers that it's ok because there's worse out there.

It becomes a low cost filler when it's not species appropriate.

I think the general consensus is to feed what your dog does best on. If people want info about raw feeding that is provided. If they want info on a kibble that is provided. Then people cam make their own minds up. It's probably one statement that irkes me. People could feed Coperice and think they're dog is doing 'best' on it when in reality it's not, it's can't. They see the 'Now' not the 5-10 years down the track. People's interpretation of 'best' is different for many people, often it means good poos.

Kefir here, home made, cheap :) Click here for info on how to make

So sorry for your loss Were you able to confirm it was the heartworm injection and not the vaccination or the combination of the two?

The top 5 ingredients are what we want to look at: Chicken - Good, however, will lose a lot of water weight when cooked so will probably not be in the number 1 position so this is potentially misleading. Chicken meal - Cooked down into a meal, so processed but still a specific meat protein in the top 5 ingredients which is what we want to see. Peas - Filler. Ground white rice - Filler. Pea flour - Filler. So I'd comfortably rate it at 2.5-3 out of 5, it's not something IMO you would feed for improved health & mobility 5-10 years down the track. It's a survival not thrive food, dogs can't thrive on food like this no matter what people who feed it say, they feed it because it's: Probably cheap Donated Get a discount on it All that's available Unfortunately believe its a good food.

Kefir, Bone Broth, Berries, NZ K9 Naturals pellets are some of my favs.

It is lovely to see her coming out of her shell. I wondered if it was an oestrogen affect. I've just read some articles on its affects on women but I think any possible risks are outweighed by the benefits for my GSD. Absolutely, quality of life...

Consider a 'performance' kibble that has a higher fat percentage such as the Meals for Mutts one that is around 20%.

Just a myth :) Recent studies show it's a genetic gut flora issue.

Of course temperament has a genetic component otherwise there would be no behavioural breed traits in dogs. From a litter there will be dogs of all varieties of temperaments regardless of upbringing just like humans reproduce their children have different personalities, one you may refer to as a bad egg, yet the other a sweet child. Breeders can influence how their puppies cope in the world to some extent, particularly their recovery rate by doing early neuro stim work with them often promoted by a company called Puppy Culture but that is also no guarantee. Plenty of wonderful dog owners and trained professionals have dogs of questionable temperaments where nothing traumatic happened to them and they were raised well and appropriate by their owners. There are simply too many variables to say it's one or the other, it is both however it's important to remember that the environment simply switches on or off the genes that are already there. It's quite sad when I hear breeders make comments which would suggest the owner caused the dog to go 'off' therefore resolving them of any responsibility. A good example of how reliant dogs should be is that of guide dog puppies who are sent to puppy raisers and those raisers are meant to do a number of things with the puppies...one raiser did not, they lived remotely and did not do anything they were supposed to. At the age when the puppy was to return to the facility for assessment i.e. 1 year, it faulted a little for a day or 2 and then recovered just fine....now those are strong genetics for behaviour.

Neither. If you want a grainfree then look at www.stayloyal.com.au

Physio involves quite a bit of massage :)

Probably the most in-depth is http://www.nctm.com.au/, you don't want to be doing any massage course that is only via correspondence because that hands-on skills is what you need. I personally saw the NCTM course as fairly basic and went off and did post grad studies elsewhere until I found skill set I was really happy with. In the end, you need to decide what you want to achieve, is this just for you personally to work on your own dogs or is to create a business? That answer will shape where you go to from here. You may like to also consider muscle release techniques such as: Emmets: http://www.emmett4animals.com/ Bowen: http://www.smartbowen.com/the-team/ For owners, you can do an online course with Dogs in Motion in Melbourne: http://www.dogsinmot...for-pet-owners/ and of course there is also Youtube to learn different methods and techniques.

If people want to buy it, sure! My dogs don't hold things like that, so it's lost on me.

I did Wisdom about 4 years ago.... 15-16 kilo dog. Black with some white on chest and toes.

Get a referral from your Vet to a Dermatologist :)

http://store.augustineapproved.com/faith-for-dogs-and-cats - worth a try, loads of positive feedback from owners with dogs with yeast problems. Yeast problems can take months to years to get ontop of.

May be a strange question...do you think that those highly competative in your sport could potentially be doing exactly the same as they do in Greyhound racing to improve performance? About as likely as flyballers doing the same to improve their dogs desire to get the ball ..... In other words, just not going to happen. Flyballers get a ball, lure coursing dogs chase a lure - it's quite different isn't it? Live baiting would work for lure coursing and not for fly ball? Lure coursing and the potential for live baiting in it has been covered by the very people who do it and they have extended an invitation to those who would like to know more about it to go out there and actually see it in action. They have explained why it can't happen and they know the people who are active in the community for it. If you don't like what they have had to say about it take them on their word, go out there and have a look at the activity. --Lhok I was just asking a question actually, not making a statement or accusing anyone of anything. I've lure coursed before and I can see the potential of live baiting in it, so I wanted to ask. It's certainly not an impossible scenario, no different to Greyhounds, I''m sure that started off pretty quietly too and no one told anyone what they were doing to gain a competitive edge. When there is a potential for something and then someone says it's impossible that takes away their credibility.